The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for processing and transmitting a voice message. More specifically, the invention provides for converting a voice message to a text message and transmitting the text message to the intended recipient. A service provider network receives the voice message transmitted by the sender and converts the message into a text format. The network then transmits the text message to the intended recipient.
Currently, it is possible for a sender of a message to send text messages to an intended recipient. These messages can be electronic mail messages that are generated on the personal computer of the sender and transmitted over a network to the intended recipient""s personal computer. Alternatively, these text messages can be documents that are transmitted to the intended recipient by utilizing a facsimile machine. However, with both of these known methods for sending a text message to an intended recipient, the sender of the message must have access to transmission equipment that is capable of sending the text message, e.g., a personal computer or a facsimile machine.
The sender of a message who wants to send a text message to an intended recipient may not always have access to conventional text transmission equipment. For example, a sending party that wants to send an e-mail message to an intended recipient could be at an airport and thus not have access to conventional e-mail transmission equipment. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a capability where a person who desires to transmit a text message to an intended recipient could send the text message to the intended recipient without requiring the sender to have access to conventional transmission equipment for sending text messages.
Currently, it is also possible for an intended recipient of a voice mail message to receive the voice mail message from the sending party. However, as with the situation above where the sender of a text message must have access to conventional transmission equipment, the intended recipient of a voice mail message must have access to a conventional telephone in order to receive the voice mail message. As such, it may not always be possible for the intended recipient of a voice mail message to receive the message at a time when desired. Therefore, it would also be desirable to provide a capability to receive a voice mail message where the person who desires to receive the voice mail message does not have access to a conventional telephone.
The present invention overcomes the drawbacks in the above-described communication scenarios. In accordance with the present invention, a network-based voice messaging system is provided. The system provides the capability to convert a voice mail message to a text message.
A voice message is received at a network. The network converts the voice message into a text message by utilizing known speech recognition software. The text message is transmitted to the intended recipient as an electronic mail (e-mail) message or facsimile document and is received by the intended recipient on conventional text receiving equipment. Thus, a sending party that desires to send a text message but who does not have access to conventional text transmission equipment could utilize a telephone connected to a network to provide a voice message for an intended recipient. The network would convert the voice message into a text message and transmit the text message to the intended recipient. In the second situation where an intended recipient of a voice message desires to receive the message but does not have access to a conventional telephone, the intended recipient could have the network convert the voice message to a text message and transmit the text message to the personal computer or facsimile machine of the intended recipient.